Dead Reckoning VS GPS

We were born in the world without knowing where we live or how to locate
ourselves in earth. As time passes, we get to know where we live and the place,
city, and country you live in, when we are already mature and we most likely know
how to move ourselves on the streets and our home city but, then when we want to
travel to either national or international places we get lost easily, and our easy exit
of that lostness is the GPS, what usually called as Waze or google maps. Though
that technology has developed through time, there was a time were that gadget did
not exist. So, in past times how did ships knew where the were? Or how did sailors
know where their ships were heading to? Well, before GPS invention people
created a location method called Dead reckoning, although it was not that
sophisticated or technologically developed, this method works properly and helped
for a long period of time. In this essay I will talk about with method is more accurate
and how both work and their benefits.
To begin with, what is dead reckoning and how was it used for navigation? Well,
this method is basically a process of calculating our position, specially at the sea,
by estimating the constant velocity, direction and distance traveled. This was
usually used by sailors and it was highly accurate way of moving from one point to
another, usually in short distances. From the other side, the GPS (Global Position
System) is a space-based navigation system that provides location and time
information in all weather conditions, this is provided different satellites located on
the outside earth. But is usefulness of this methods? Well, when navigators use the
dead reckoning they can calculate the route and distance the ship has covered and
mark a sea chart, for this they need to have clear the start point, they also have to
know the water track and as well the reckoning position, with that they can already
get the distance, the course they have to steer and the time, this process can be
done in a short period of time and it is very accurate for this type of ship routes.
Then, when navigators use GPS, signal sometimes is not stable in some devices,
this means the device used cannot reach the satellite signal, but, if a normal
person uses it in a place where the signal is stable the GPS precision is extremely
high since several satellites work at same time using the GPS and GLONASS
system which allows them to transmit the exact position of the device and as well
even more information like, weather, time, traffic or obstacles, this, by using others
device signals.
In conclusion, although both methods are very accurate, I can say that GPS is
method which its location and navigation systems are very functional and precise,
but it can sometime have system issues and its reliability cannot be fully secure.
And, about dead reckoning, this method can be really easy to use and figure out
the position, and also its easily method to learn, but it wont update the information
constantly and it could be risky as it needs a lot of thinking and process.
References:

 http://timeandnavigation.si.edu/navigating-at-sea/navigating-without-a-
clock/dead-reckoning
 https://www.trails.com/facts_5327_pros-cons-gps-systems.html

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/dead-
reckoning